HSU: Ch. 300

Since the start of the Fourth Great Ninja War, which began with the joint Chunin Exams, Konoha had overwhelmingly dominated the battlefield in every aspect.

There wasn't much to say about the eastern front, Kiri's proud flanking tactics were beaten to a pulp by Minato, who had returned to his old ways. With the Seven Ninja Swordsmen lost and lacking a jinchūriki, Kiri had already retreated to the Land of Whirlpools, seemingly on the verge of mass suicide by diving into the sea.

On the western front, Deidara, who had succeeded as the Fourth Tsuchikage, quickly experienced what Ōnoki had gone through in his youth, the Iwa forces were hammered so hard by Hashirama on the main battlefield that they questioned their very existence as ninja. Fortunately, Hashirama avoided killing as much as possible; otherwise, the front line would've had no Iwa ninja left. Those who surrendered were now comfortably eating fragrant white rice in Konoha's POW camps, already considering a career change. But compared to the frontlines, the Iwa ninjas in the rear wished they were dead even more.

Muzo, with his creepy habit of reanimating corpses on the spot, led the furious refugees of the Land of Earth in throwing the entire country into chaos. If Deidara hadn't gone out and bombed something once, Iwa would have fallen directly.

After a brief lull, the northern front suddenly erupted. Masashi, leading a motley crew, wiped out a major Kumo force attempting a flanking maneuver. After linking up with the Konoha army along the coastal route, they marched straight to the Valley of Clouds and Lightning. Meanwhile, another major Kumo force encountered Tobirama heading north by sea and was utterly annihilated.

At this point, Konoha's complete victory was all but assured. The only remaining question was whether the Five Great Villages would still exist after the war.

A bunch of analysts and strategists were rubbing their hands in anticipation, ready to put on a show of in-depth post-war analysis in front of the major lords. They were already convinced Iwa would be the first to kneel, with the daimyō of the Land of Earth already sending desperate pleas to the daimyō of the Land of Fire. But before any of these experts could publish their grand theories, the Valley of Clouds and Lightning ceased to exist.

Facing the Kumo forces who were trying to rely on the terrain for defense, Masashi went all-out.

With the power of the Rinnegan, he gave the entire shinobi world a live demonstration. Considering the pile of valuable artifacts stored in Kumo, he used Chibaku Tensei to raise several enormous boulders around the valley, then dropped them from the sky like bombs, crushing everything from the outside in.

By the third wave of attacks, the newly appointed Fifth Raikage surrendered on behalf of the survivors. Decades of Kumo's accumulated treasures became the spoils of war for the White Ghost.

Kumo's surrender was the straw that broke the camel's back, triggering a chain reaction.

The Kiri ninjas, who had already prepared to jump into the sea, surrendered on the front lines under the guidance of emergency envoys sent from Kiri.

In the Land of Earth, Muzo successfully rendezvoused with Hashirama. Seeing the thousands of severed heads and hordes of refugees behind Muzo, Hashirama sighed deeply, confiscated the remaining Edo Tensei talismans, ordered the Konoha forces to halt and rest, and fed the refugees. Then he went alone to Iwa.

There, he summoned a massive wooden construct.

Faced with the emotional and heartfelt plea for surrender from the First Hokage, and with all their allies already on their knees, Iwa opened its gates wide and warmly welcomed Hashirama. They signed the surrender agreement the same day. And so, the Fourth Great Ninja War officially ended. It lasted barely a month, shorter than those back in the villages had even expected.

For the Konoha ninjas on the western front, it felt like they had just been marching and handing out relief food. They had barely fought, and the enemy suddenly surrendered.

The victory felt almost unreal, so effortless.

Was this the power of the village's old-generation ninjas? Love it! Absolutely love it!

However, the western front's Konoha forces were the last to return, mostly because the Land of Earth had been thrown into complete chaos by the frenzied refugees. Hashirama, being soft-hearted, stayed to help with cleanup for a while.

His actions ended up easing a lot of the hostility toward Konoha.

By the time the western army returned to the village, Minato was leading a large crowd at the gates to welcome them home in triumph.

The shinobi world had finally returned to peace. From here on, it was all administrative work.

The Uchiha clan district grew lively once again.

To celebrate this "hard-won" peace, the Hokage Building even held a grand celebration event.

At the same time, Masashi, who had also returned to the village, met up with a group of old friends and headed to a bar to drink and celebrate.

Seeing the familiar "lineup" surrounding Masashi, the bar owner trembled with excitement, his chubby body quivering all over. After he finished trembling, he eagerly mentioned that the shop now offered a secret escape tunnel service exclusively for VIP customers. Then his excitement was instantly extinguished, like midsummer turning to winter.

First, Masashi stated that he was simply here to drink and told him not to overthink it.

Then Tetsuka jabbed at him, saying, "What, you looking down on the Shadow Clone Technique or something?"

Masashi patted the now even more rotund shop owner sympathetically on the shoulder and said, "Bring out all the liquor I've got stored here, add more if it's not enough," then led the group directly into a private room.

In the blink of an eye, the whole group disappeared around the staircase landing.

The owner, sighing deeply in regret, thought to himself that once again today he'd have to rely on good booze alone. Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind and grabbed him.

He turned around, it was Tetsuka.

Of the four-man group from back then, only he was still active, and he and the owner were now extremely familiar with each other.

The other three, Masashi and Inoka had gotten married, and Yaku had grown too old for the game and retired. All of them had "stepped back from the stage."

"What's the matter? You see Masashi and suddenly forget your old pals?"

"Sigh… you know how it is. Now that the war's over, everyone's scrambling for orders. And Masashi-sama doesn't…"

"Bah! That's nothing!" Tetsuka smacked him hard, making the owner's face jiggle wildly. "Just bring it up! I'll mention it to Masashi later and let you use his name."

"Really?" The owner was tempted, but still hesitant deep down.

Businessmen moved for profit, but this owner didn't pull a fast one without Masashi's permission.

There were already heated rumors in the village: Fugaku was planning to retire, and Masashi was expected to become the next Hokage Advisor.

If it were anyone else, the owner wouldn't believe it. Normally, when people said someone was definitely going to get the job, that usually meant they wouldn't. But if it was Masashi… then it was a different story.

After hesitating for a moment, the owner decided not to take the risk. Losing the shop was one thing, losing his life was everything.

"I appreciate your kindness, but I can't make things difficult for you. Let's leave it at that. If people end up liking our drinks, I'll already be satisfied."

Tetsuka lost his smile. He hadn't even started drinking yet, but already felt like the alcohol would taste worse than usual tonight.

Just playing around? He might end up drinking himself into the grave.

Maybe… he should go drag Hiashi over now? Wasn't he trying to curry favor with Masashi? Then he should be the one doing the heavy drinking.

---

When Tetsuka arrived at the private room, Masashi and the others had already completely let themselves go, nobody was sitting properly anymore. A bunch of old friends getting together to drink, if it was all stiff and formal, then what was the point?

"Hurry up, you're getting slower and slower!" Inoka shouted. " He was now sprawled sideways on the couch, idly tapping the table with his foot.

"Put your foot down," Yaku said disapprovingly. "They'll be bringing food with the drinks in a bit."

"We're already here, just loosen up a little," Inoka said cheerfully.

"When you're home, act like it," Yaku shook his head. "Don't bring battlefield habits back here, relaxing and being unruly are two different things."

He was already past fifty, on his way to sixty, but unlike Hiruzen, he hadn't aged as gracefully. Like most ninjas, once he passed the age of fifty, his stamina and reflexes dropped significantly, and his overall ability declined a tier. In the recent war, he had stayed back to defend the village. While still jonin-level in strength, his endurance was less than half of what it used to be. That meant he could no longer perform a jonin's full duties on the battlefield.

The younger generation from back then had now become the true pillars of the clan. Inoka and Tetsuka were both fully qualified jonin of the Uchiha.

Masashi and Shisui, on the other hand, were simply Kage-level. The most outrageous of them was Masashi. Over the years, Fugaku had expressed more than once that he hoped Masashi would succeed him as head of the clan.

On that matter, only one person in the entire clan had strongly opposed it.

Masashi himself.

His reason was simple, he felt he had worked hard enough and was adamant that he would retire by forty at the latest. Everyone simply ignored that statement.

A Kage-level ninja wanting to retire at forty? What kind of fantasy was that? Even marrying several more wives seemed more realistic.

Looking at Masashi, who was lying on the sofa seemingly deep in thought, he recalled the conversations he'd had with clan leader. Fugaku wasn't young either, in less than ten years, he'd be past his prime.

Strength meant everything to a ninja.

Even for someone as highly ranked as a Kage, once their strength declined, many eyes would begin to covet their position. If it were just people from the village, that'd be one thing. But if outsiders got ideas, that would be a disaster.

Masashi's performance in the war had been on par with several reincarnated legends. If they didn't push him forward, the Uchiha clan wouldn't accept it.

But before that…

"Masashi," Yaku asked, "I heard the Second Hokage went to the Land of Lightning to find you?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, that did happen," Masashi paused, recalling the way Tobirama had looked at him. He had a feeling his second brother had figured something out. Back when he started studying Edo Tensei, Tobirama had been the only one who knew. And thanks to him, the matter had never leaked.

Even Hashirama didn't know. After all, he was too busy asking Madara out on walks every day.

"The Second Hokage never had a favorable view of the Uchiha. When he saw you, he didn't give you trouble, did he?" Yaku pressed.

That was something the clan wanted to know. No matter how much they disliked Tobirama, every Uchiha knew the position he held in Konoha. Strictly speaking, from the founding of the village through the First Great Ninja War, Tobirama had been the true administrator of Konoha.

If he remained opposed to the Uchiha, it would be troublesome. And this Second Hokage had shown no signs of undoing his Edo Tensei state.

"Nothing like that," Masashi replied with a smile. "He is someone with a sense of justice."

Yaku nodded and didn't ask further. He looked toward the door. The next moment, it slid open, and the chubby shop owner pushed in a cart with a beaming smile. The cart was piled high with food and drinks.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," the owner said with a fawning smile.

Inoka let out a whistle, walked up, picked up a bottle of sake, examined it, and then gave the owner a half-smiling, half-mocking look. "Not bad. Now that Masashi-nii is here, the treatment's really something else."

"Haha, it's been such a long time since I last saw Masashi-sama. I just wanted to show a little appreciation," the owner chuckled.

They were all old acquaintances by now, so such words from the owner were no issue.

Before long, the food and drinks were all served, and the owner quickly and tactfully left, not wanting to disturb this group of Uchiha as they drank and chatted. Everyone got their drinks and raised their cups together.

"The first toast, to old friends," Masashi said.

Everyone clinked glasses and downed their drinks in one go.

"The second, to absent friends."

The Uchiha clan hadn't had smooth sailing over the years, there had been turbulence, though they'd managed it all. At the same time, the authority of the Police Force had expanded, no longer confined within the village. This brought sacrifices, not just from the Uchiha but from their allies as well.

Tetsuka and Inoka had both lost comrades more than once. Tetsuka still remembered the Inuzuka ninja who used to stand guard with him at the gate, he had died in service.

For the third toast, they all drank in honor of the comrades who had fallen in the recent war. Even though Konoha had emerged relatively unscathed, casualties were inevitable. No matter how many powerful ninjas the village had, they still needed to send numerous lower-ranked ninjas to the front lines.

Large-scale unit deployments compressed the enemy's space for maneuvering, allowing the elite forces to deal decisive blows.

There had been casualties on all three fronts where Konoha fought, though the numbers were far fewer than in past wars, not enough to shake the overall structure of the village's ninja ranks.

After the three rounds of toasts, the group officially entered the fun-and-games part of the evening. As expected, Tetsuka became the unluckiest loser of the night.

Still, amid all the drinking and joking, he didn't forget Hiashi's request. So, while the mood was good, he brought it up with Masashi.

"Hiashi came to my house yesterday."

"What did he want from you?" Masashi's hand paused mid-lift of his cup. "Trying to get you back into the Police Force?"

"No, not that. It's about his daughter, he says she's having some kind of mental issue."

Masashi took a sip. In his memory, both Hinata and Hanabi had always been mentally stable in the original timeline. In this timeline, Hiashi still only had those two daughters.

"Hinata?" he asked. "Even if something's wrong, I'm not a doctor. Shouldn't this be something for the Konoha Hospital?"

"It's Hanabi. He already took her to the hospital, but it didn't help," Tetsuka said, shrugging. "Even Lady Tsunade examined her and could only say it seemed to be a mental issue. So now he is looking for someone skilled in Yin Release to help treat her."

"Hanabi, huh…" Masashi didn't have a strong impression of her, in the original timeline, she had been a background character. "What exactly is wrong? Don't tell me she's under a genjutsu?"

"Funny you say that, you might actually be onto something. I started thinking the same thing. Hiashi said that sometimes, in the middle of the night, she just suddenly walks out into the courtyard to stare at the moon. Then the next day, she doesn't remember any of it."